Experimental:Pattern Matching Support

Experimental - Skipping Glossary

Pattern Matching and Pattern Expansion are useful tools to succinctly select and generate things (channels, points, etc.), however they can often be mixed up with each other.

Below is a table listing nodes and parameters that support Pattern Matching and Pattern Expansion.

COMPs

Pattern Matching Support

Node	Parameter Name	Matching Type	Supports Set Operations
Light COMP	Shadow Casters	Operator	✅
Actor COMP	Collision SOPs	Operator	✅
Actor COMP	Forces	Operator	✅
Bullet Solver COMP	Actors	Operator	✅
Nvidia Flex Solver COMP	Actors	Operator	✅
Nvidia Flex Solver COMP	Global Forces	Operator	✅
Constraint COMP	Actor Bodies	Index	✅

SOPs

Pattern Matching Support

Node	Parameter Name	Matching Type	Supports Set Operations
Merge SOP	SOPs	Operator	✅
Select SOP	SOPs	Operator	✅
DAT to SOP	Add Float/Int/String Attribute	Basic	✅
Add SOP	Pattern	Index	✅
Delete SOP	Pattern	Index	❌
Group SOP	Pattern	Index	❌

CHOPs

Pattern Matching Support

Node	Parameter Name	Matching Type	Supports Set Operations
Delete CHOP	Channel Names	Basic	✅
Delete CHOP	Channel Numbers	Index	✅
MIDI In Map CHOP	Sliders, Buttons	Basic	✅
Keyboard In CHOP	Panels	Operator	✅
Mouse In CHOP	Panels	Operator	✅
Join CHOP	CHOPs	Operator	✅
Join CHOP	Step/Blend Scope	Basic	✅
Join CHOP	Translate X/Y/Z Blend	Basic	✅
Parameter CHOP	Operators	Operator	✅
Reorder CHOP	Numeric Pattern	Index Pattern	✅
Select CHOP	CHOPs	Operator	✅
Select CHOP	Channel Names	Basic	✅
Sort CHOP	Channel Indices	Index	✅
Sort CHOP	Channel Names	Basic	✅
Sequencer CHOP	Blend Scope	Index Pattern	❌
Panel CHOP	Select	Basic	❌
POP to CHOP	Attribute Scope	Basic	❌
Render Pick CHOP	Panel Value	Basic	❌
Composite CHOP	Rotate Scope	Basic	❌
Cycle CHOP	Step Scope	Basic	❌
DMX In CHOP	Start Codes	Basic	❌
Sequencer CHOP	Blend Scope, Add Scope	Basic	❌

DATs

Pattern Matching Support

Node	Parameter Name	Matching Type	Supports Set Operations
Clip DAT	Clip	Operator	✅
CHOP Execute DAT	CHOPs	Operator	✅
Keyboard In DAT	Panels	Operator	✅
DAT Execute DAT	DATs	Operator	✅
Merge DAT	DATs	Operator	✅
OP Execute DAT	Monitor OPs	Operator	✅
Parameter DAT	Operators	Operator	✅
Parameter Execute DAT	OPs	Operator	✅
ParGroup Execute DAT	OPs	Operator	✅
SOP to DAT	Attributes	Basic	✅
POP to DAT	Attributes	Basic	✅
Panel Execute DAT	Panels	Operator	✅
Select DAT	Row Select Values	Basic	✅ names must not have ()
Select DAT	Col Select Values	Basic	✅ names must not have ()
Substitute DAT	Before	Basic	✅ names must not have ()
MIDI In DAT	Message, Channel, Index, Value	Basic	❌
MIDI Event DAT	Message, Channel, Index, Value	Basic	❌
Art-Net DAT	Columns	Basic	❌
CHOP Execute DAT	Channel	Basic	❌
XML DAT	Element Scope	Basic	❌
Examine DAT	Level, Key, Type, Value	Basic	❌
OP Find DAT	Filter Page	Basic	❌
Parameter DAT	Pages	Basic	❌
Parameter DAT	Parameters	Basic	❌

TOPs

Pattern Matching Support

Node	Parameter Name	Matching Type	Supports Set Operations
Render TOP	Camera(s)	Operator	✅
Render TOP	Geometry	Operator	✅
Render TOP	Lights	Operator	✅
Composite TOP	TOPs	Operator	✅
GLSL TOP	TOPs	Operator	✅
Layout TOP	TOPs	Operator	✅
Nvidia Flow TOP	TOPs	Operator	✅

POPs

Pattern Matching Support

Node	Parameter Name	Matching Type	Supports Set Operations
Analyze POP	Input Attributes	Basic	✅
Attribute POP	Delete Point/Vertex/Primitive Attributes	Basic	✅
Attribute Combine POP	In POP	Operator	✅
Attribute Combine POP	Input Attributes	Basic	✅
Attribute Convert POP	Attributes Name	Basic	✅
Blend POP	In POP	Operator	✅
Blend POP	Point/Vertex/Primitive Attribute Scope	Basic	✅
Copy POP	Copy to Point/Prim/Vert Attributes	Basic	✅
Copy POP	Multiply to Point/Prim/Vert Attributes	Basic	✅
Copy POP	Add to Point/Prim/Vert Attributes	Basic	✅
Copy POP	Subtract to Point/Prim/Vert Attributes	Basic	✅
Curve POP	Lookup Index Attribute	Basic	✅
Delete POP	Patterns	Index	✅
GLSL POP	POPs	Operator	✅
GLSL POP	Output Attributes	Basic	✅
GLSL Advanced POP	Point/Prim/Vert Output Attributes	Basic	✅
GLSL Copy POP	Point Output Attributes	Basic	✅
GLSL Create POP	POPs	Operator	✅
Group POP	Pattern	Index	✅
Lookup Attribute POP	Value Attributes	Basic	✅
Lookup Curve POP	Lookup Index Attribute	Basic	✅
Math Combine POP	In POP	Operator	✅
Math Combine POP	Delete Attributes	Basic	✅
Math Mix POP	In POP	Operator	✅
Math Mix POP	Delete Attributes	Basic	❌
Math Mix POP	Output Secondary Attributes	Basic	❌
Math Mix POP	In Attributes, Rename to	Basic	❌
Merge POP	In POP	Operator	✅
Neighbor POP	Neighbor Point Attributes	Basic	✅
Particle POP	In Attributes, Rename to	Basic	❌
Ray POP	Hit Point/Primitive/Vertext Attr Scope	Basic	✅
Select POP	Point/Primitive/Vertex Attribute Scope	Basic	✅
Sprinkle POP	Point/Primitive/Vertex Attribute Scope	Basic	✅
Switch POP	In POP	Operator	✅
Switch POP	Point/Primitive/Vertex Attribute Scope	Basic	✅

See Also

• Pattern Expansion, Pattern Replacement, Pattern Matching Support

Matching names using wildcard characters and bracketing. Useful in "Select" type parameters to select multiple operators, paths, channels, etc.

The generic thing that holds an Operator, and includes Flags (display, bypass, lock, render, immune) and its position/size in the network. Whether you "lay down an Operator" or "lay down an Node", you're doing the same thing.

Any of the procedural data operators. OPs do all the work in TouchDesigner. They "cook" and output data to other OPs, which ultimately result in new images, data and audio being generated. See Node.

A parameter in most CHOPs that restricts which channels of that CHOP will be affected. Normally all channels of a CHOP are affected by the operator. TOPs have Channel Mask, a similar feature.

The internal states of a panel component are Panel Values, and are accessed with a Panel CHOP, a OP.panel Python expression, or a Panel Execute DAT.

Information associated with SOP geometry. Points and primitives (polygons, NURBS, etc.) can have any number of attributes - position (P) is standard, and built-in optional attributes are normals (N), texture coordinates (uv), color (Cd), etc.

A CHOP outputs one or more channels, where a channel is simply a sequence of numbers (Samples), representing motion, audio, etc. Channels are passed between CHOPs in TouchDesigner networks. Channels can be Exported to Parameters.

The 3D data held in SOPs and passed for rendering by the Geometry COMP.

Each SOP has a list of Points. Each point has an XYZ 3D position value plus other optional attributes. Each polygon Primitive is defined by a vertex list, which is list of point numbers.

A sequence of vertices form a Polygon in a SOP. Each vertex is an integer index into the Point List, and each Point holds an XYZ position and attributes like Normals and Texture Coordinates.

A surface type in SOPs that includes polygon, curve (NURBS and Bezier), patch (NURBS and Bezier) and other basic shapes like sphere, tube and metaball. Points and Primitives are part of the Geometry Detail, which is a part of a SOP.